$2 Bills Rock Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS — Rock Indiana Campaign for Equality announced today their statewide $2 bill campaign. The campaign, which began two weeks ago with a saturation period, will last through the summer.
“Because of the vast discrimination that is being wielded against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers, we feel it is important to send a message to businesses that GLBT citizens are not only consumers, but tax paying consumers at that and we contribute to Indiana’s economy,” said Pepper Partin, a Rock Indiana organizer. “We can easily take these powerful dollars to another state where special interest groups such as Eric Miller’s Advance America do not have a stronghold on the state, city and county governments.”
Every Hoosier who believes in equal rights for all is encouraged to participate. The bills should be obtained from banks and/or credit unions and should be spent wherever citizens spend their common denomination currency. For more information on the campaign and to download a flyer visit 2 Dollar Bill Campaign Web site

The $2 bill saturation period began April 25, but grassroots organizing began several weeks prior. Organizers say that by the time they rolled out the campaign, people across the state had already ordered a supply of $2 bills. “People all over the state were eager to participate,” said Marti Abernathey, Steering Committee Chair of Rock Indiana. “Our constitution has taken a beating over the past few months and many people across the state want to take a stand with one of their most powerful weapons: money.”
According to organizers the economic promotion that features $2 bills is being presented across the state in light of the anti gay sentiment that was prevalent in the 114th General Assembly and in Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council’s refusal to add sexual orientation and gender identity verbiage to the Human Rights Ordinance. Representatives of Rock Indiana say that organizing against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) citizens has become big business for special interest groups that have infiltrated the government — much like D.C. Stephenson and the KKK did in the early part of the 20th Century.
Despite Rock Indiana’s success at organizing a historical protest against Eric Miller and Advance America at the Indiana statehouse on March 8, the grassroots organization was surprised by how rapidly word spread about the $2 bill campaign. “We are receiving feedback from all over the state — from South Bend to Evansville — that businesses are noticing; that comments are being made at grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, home improvement stores and on bus services,” Partin said. “Businesses are realizing that they are taking money from people who may leave Indiana if we do not collectively take a stand against discrimination and special-interest driven government.”
Rock Indiana Campaign for Equality urges everyone who believes in equal rights to participate in the $2 bill campaign by replacing their common denomination bills with $2 bills. “Money moves people in a way that protests don’t,” Abernathey said. “Most people understand the value and strength of money. We need to show how much of an impact our spending power has in Indiana. Using $2 bills is a way to do just that.”